National losing the plot

"National's internal manouevrings over tax
policy are just the latest in a long line of issues on which
it seems unable to reach any solid agreement," Finance
Minister Michael Cullen said today.

He was commenting on
deputy finance spokesman John Key's public support for a cut
to the top tax rate in preference to the cuts for "lower and
middle income earners" advocated by party leader Don
Brash.

"Yet another issue, it seems, for the 'too hard'
basket. The list of decisions National is dithering over is
growing embarrassingly long and contains some embarrassingly
large items.

"They include:

- whether to have an
independent foreign policy or take orders direct from
Washington;

- whether to resume their asset sales
programme of the 1990s;

- whether to abolish the New
Zealand Superannuation investment fund;

- whether to
advocate repeal of the Working for Families package should
National be in a position to form a government;

- whether
to dismantle the Primary Health Organisations and the
cheaper health care they provide to more than 3 million New
Zealanders.

"Act's support is around its ankles, it has a
leader no-one in the caucus much likes and whose only
strategy for the leadership is to stop being himself. But
at least we know what it stands for," Dr Cullen said.

“The BPS and the Treasury’s Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update show we can deliver our promises while running sustainable surpluses and paying down debt...

“Today we are announcing the full details of the Government’s Families Package. This is paid for by rejecting National’s tax cuts and instead targeting spending at those who need it most. It will lift 88,000 children out of poverty by 2021." More>>

The spending lavished on Defence projects to meet the risks that could maybe, possibly, theoretically face New Zealand in future is breath-taking, given how successive governments have been reluctant to spend even a fraction of those amounts on the nation’s actual social needs. More>>

Today the Minister of Education announced that the Government has stopped the controversial National Standards system of assessment and declared them an arbitrary measure which did not raise children's achievement as the previous Government intended. More>>

The People’s Commission on Public Broadcasting and Media, was crowdfunded and was informed by an extensive consultation, seeking the views of both those working in Media as well as gathering input both online and in person from ordinary Citizens. More>>

ALSO:

Prime Minister Jacinda Adern was joined by Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Minister for Children Tracey Martin to announce the appointment of Adrian Orr as the new Governor of the Reserve Bank and the name change of the Ministry for Vulnerable Children to ‘Oranga Tamariki - Ministry for Children’. More>>

‘Today, we learned the new government has added New Zealand’s name to a proposal designed to lead to foreign investment rules in the WTO at this week’s ministerial meeting in Argentina,’ said Auckland University Professor Jane Kelsey. More>>